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Abstract

Links between exposure to religious media and perfectionism were investigated in 121 Latter-day Saint (LDS), Brigham Young University students. Random assignment was given to view an LDS religious video or no video, after which participants filled out a questionnaire assessing the effects of LDS media on perfectionism. The 35- item Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS) scored students’ perfectionism. Our hypothesis, that viewing an LDS religious video would increase adaptive perfectionism scores and decrease maladaptive scores, was not supported. However, a post-hoc analysis showed a significant interaction effect between gender and video exposure among single participants. Unmarried males had lower perfectionism scores after watching the video, while unmarried females had higher scores after watching the video. We conclude that perfectionism and religious influence may interact differently in different individuals and demographic groups, especially by gender. Because 90% of the sample was unmarried, further research is needed to explore this connection in different populations. Also, because our data is based on post-hoc analysis, similar studies should be conducted to confirm our findings.